Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-09-16
SOLIDiFIED DEWDROPS.
French Pearl Fisheries I'm the Pacific
Ocean-Pcrils and Precautions OF
the Native Divers

The other day had quite an inter-
esting conversation with Nj. Bouchoh-
Brandely, who was sent out TO Ocean
lea by the government TO study what is
the best means of preventing the ex-
haustion of the beds of pearl-bearing
oy sters in the French possessions. His
opinion now is that these oysters can
be cultivated in parks and by artificial
formulation by the same system that is
now applied to the edible bivalves.
The pearl and mother pearl bearing
oysters are also uniseXual, and they can
DC replenished artificially in water
from two to four feet deep; afterward
they can be put in beds, where they are
to develop to maturity.
Pearls have been classified into sever
al divisions. all of which depends on
their place of origin, on their brilliancy,
on Their color, on their form, on their
weight, and on their dimensions.
There are white, gray, black, lilac, pink,
blue, and yellow pearls. AS to form,
they are called 'barroques, or irreg-
ular shaped; pears or pyri-formed;
"buttons." or ilattened at one end, and
virgins" or paragons. the perfectly
round and most highly esteemed of all.
Few intrinsic things have a market val
ne more variable than pearls, as the
price depends largely on fashion and
the prevailing taste of the day. When
pearls are small and ordinary in other
particulars, they are sold by the trade
by weight; but if they are of I'M
usual size and beauty, they are sold
separately, according to their estimat-
ed value France owns in the archi-
pelago of the Pacific ocean, the great
est pearl fishing grounds that exist
in the world, there being only eight
islands out of the eighty which compose
the group on which the pearl bearing
oysters do not exist. Nevertheless,
these fisheries are very far from yield
ing the revenue which England gets
out of her Indian possessions. Not
only are the French islands less pro-
ductive, but an ENTIRELY different sys-
tenn is observed England either
works hers herself or farms them out
at heavy rental, while France permits
anybody to fish for pearls and makes
no attempt TO collect tolls or other
charges. The Tuamota group of ISL
ands have only been a French posses
sion since 1880, and perhaps the home
government has not yet had time to
study the question and regulate it prop
erly. As the islands already yield
more than 600 tons of mother of pearl
annually, it is assumed, Judging by
similar fisher es elsewhere, that the
pearls found each year ought TO be
worth at least 1920, 900. whereas the
estimated production is only about
$50, 900. The beds have been so badly
worked that it is indeed, rare to find
in them, in any large quantities. such
magnificent pearls as those with which
Queen Pomare used TO adorn her royal
person, and which, by the way. was
often not adorned with ANYTHING else
in she shape of covering. Most OF the
pearls now found at Tahiti 90 to En-
gland, Germany and the United States,
TO the detrement of French jewelers.,
who employ by far the largest number
of fine pearls that are sold in the Eu-
ropean markets, the importation alone
in this country in 1854 being over 81,
600 grammes.
Natives of the French islands have
no industry that am aware of other
than that of diving for pearls and
hacre, and they are said to show re-
markable skill in their calling. All of
them, men, women and ch ldren, swim
like fishes. and they have acquired the
faculty of remaining several minutes
under water. There are three women
who are famous throughout the arch-
pelago a pearl.diycrs; they will go
down to the bottom in twenty-five faith
oms Of water and remain under rs long
as three minutes before coming TO the
surface again.
The pursuit is very dangerous by
reason of sharks, which swarm there
abouts. Divers generally rely on their
skill and agility as swimmers to escape
them, but when unable to do so, they
do not hesitate to fight although the
conflict is unequal, and they rarely es-
cape mutilation. NJ Bouchon- Bran de-
ley told me of woman whom he saw
who had lost an arm and one of her
breasts in just such an encounter only
fortnight before his departure. When
these acc dents happen, panic seizes
the divers, and work is suspended dur
ing several days. Not only is the div
ne dangerous on this account, but it
is also one of the severest trades which
mankind follows At the opening of
the season divers are forced to take
precautions of all sorts, the first and
most important being not TO 60 down